Siren

This is a story that is every parent’s worst nightmare come true. Imagine seeing your 9 year old child’s face light up on Christmas Day when he receives a PS3 that he wanted and then in a matter a few days he is violently murdered by a 25 year old man over a video game on that very PS3. 9 year old Anthony Maldanado was spending the weekend at his uncle’s house playing Tony Hawk: Ride on his PS3 when around 3 am some relatives took a break to get snacks and during this time 25 year old Alejandro Morales took out a knife and stabbed the child several times in the chest which police believe resorted over an argument over the skate boarding game. Anthony made it to his uncle’s room where he collapsed and later died at a hospital due to his injuries. Our thoughts and prayers here at the Gamercide community go out to Anthony’s family and friends. On a personal note, I can only hope that the media will not go on an “anti-video game” rampage, but sadly that will not be the case. Instead of looking at it as a 25 year old man that obviously was disturbed, they will take advantage of this tragedy and twist the story to their advantage. Tony Hawk: Ride did not tell this man to brutally kill this child. He did it on his own free will and because of that, I hope he gets put away for the rest of his miserable life. via dualshockers Click here to view the article

Did you buy Activision’s latest video game music love child, DJ Hero? Regardless of if you did or didn’t, would you care if I told there is going to be a sequel? In an interview with Kelowna, DJ Guetta who is the European Ambassador for DJ Hero has announced that he will be working on DJ Hero 2. “I think it's amazing, this game, and I'm going to work on the No. 2 version, “It's a really crazy game. After 10 minutes, you get the rush that a DJ gets after 10 years of practising. I have fun with it, but you know what? I can't go to the maximum level. It's too difficult for me. It's crazy.” Nobody from Activision has confirmed that DJ Hero 2 is in the works, but it appears from this little slip that gamers will definitely be scratching the tables a bit longer. via 1up Click here to view the article

NBA 2K10, NBA Live, and Dead Space can add their name to the growing list of avatar fashions on the the Xbox Live Marketplace. The prices for these avatar clothes range between 80 and 320 MS Points. Marketplace Click here to view the article

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Dec 22, 2009 /PRNewswire via COMTEX News Network/ -- Fans of one of the most-popular online multiplayer games ever can now get the entire collection of Call of Duty: World at War downloadable maps in one shot with the Call of Duty: World at WarMap Pack Bundle. Available starting today in North America on Xbox LIVE® Marketplace for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft for 2000 Microsoft Points and on the PlayStation®Store for the PlayStation® 3 computer entertainment system for $24.99, the bundle from developer Treyarch and Activision Publishing, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) features the complete collection of nine multiplayer maps and three co-op Zombie maps from Call of Duty: World at War Map Packs 1-3. Fight through war-torn Berlin in "Nightfire," battle through the jungle and waterfalls of "Banzai," and defend an armored island in "Battery." Zombies and Hell Hounds attack in "Verruckt" (Zombie Asylum), "Shi No Numa" (Zombie Swamp), and "Der Riese" (Zombie Factory). Survive against the onslaught of Zombies with the help of Perks-a-Cola machines, Monkey Bombs, and the powerful Wunderwaffe DG-2. The release of the bundle begins today with worldwide availability on Xbox LIVE and in the United States and Canada on the PlayStation 3 system. It will launch in Europe on the PlayStation 3 system starting on January 7th. Call of Duty: World at War is rated "M" (Mature) by the ESRB, 18 by the PEGI and 15 by the BBFC for Intense Violence, Strong Language, Blood and Gore. For more information and exclusive updates about Call of Duty: World at War, visit www.CoDWaW.com. Click here to view the article

The director of analyst services for Electronic Entertainment Design and Research, Jesse Divnich seems to think that gamers will get a glimpse of Grand Theft Auto 5 at 2010's E3. Speaking to Game Informer, Divnich says, "....I think there won't be any playable stuff. I think they'll give you some type of teaser, because we do think that a year from then in 2011 we're going to see another Grand Theft Auto." Sounds like if Grand Theft Auto 5 makes an appearance at E3 2010 it will be a battle of gangsta proportions. Saint's Row 3 is supposedly going to make an appearance as well according to the wiki for the game. Nothing has been confirmed from GTA's camp, so for now mark this as a rumor. CVG Click here to view the article

Microsoft has to be grinning from ear to ear today with the announcement of their third quarter fiscal year earnings. Much thanks to their hands free device that just so happened to claim the title of the fastest selling consumer device in history, the Kinect, Microsoft's Entertainment & Devices Division grew to 60%. 2.7 million Xbox 360's were sold, while the Kinect moved 2.4 million units. Altogether Microsoft is looking at $16.43 billion dollar profit from their third quarter fiscal year with earnings from the Microsoft brand. via Microsoft Investor Relations Click here to view the article

If you are planning on playing Fallout New Vegas on the Xbox 360, do not accept the new update that it asks you to. Today, Bethesda released a patch to fix some problems with New Vegas that gamers have been experiencing. Turns out that this patch needs a patch of it's own. Gamers have been complaining on the Fallout New Vegas forum over at Bethesda about the update not letting them use their save files and refuses to recognize any DLC. Bethesda took to their Twitter today to annouce that they are working on a fix for the buggy patch. "We're aware some folks are having New Vegas save issues . We're working with Microsoft on this and should have more information soon." - @Bethblog via Eurogamer Click here to view the article

News has broke this morning that the possible first case of credit card theft from the Playstation Network security breach that happened last week may have been reported. Rory Spreckley from Australia told ABC News that he logged in to check his bank account and noticed that there were $2,000 worth of new charges billed to his account that he did not make. "I logged into my bank account just to check everything was OK and I found out there was some just over $2,000 in charges which I didn't personally accrue," Sony has not made an official comment regarding this or another report that Playstation hacking site PSX-Scene is claiming that an underground website is trying to sell 2.2 million credit card user information from Europe that was supposedly stolen from the recent Sony security breach. In the US, San Diego's FBI cyber crime units has gotten involved in the Sony case along with Attorney Generals in 22 other states and possibly the Federal Trade Commision who are all just trying to make sense of how the Playstation Network's security was compromised on such a huge level. "The FTC may have jurisdiction in this particular case because it involves the loss of customer data through a security breach," - FTC spokeswoman Claudia Bourne Farrell As the trouble mounts for Sony publicly regarding the intrusion of privacy, behind the scenes the trouble may be effecting the electronic's giant financially. According UK Reuters, anaylists are estimating a $1 billion dollar loss for Sony as the aftermath of the security breach continues. via Game Politics Click here to view the article

An attack on Sony's PSN has not only angered Playstation owners at the thought of their credit card information being comprimised, but also Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal who sent a letter to Sony's CEO, Jack Tretton demanding to know why Sony failed to report to users on April 20 when the attack happened instead of waiting for a week to pass by before users were notified of the data privacy breach. "April 26, 2011 Mr. Jack Tretton President and CEO Sony Computer Entertainment America 919 East Hillsdale Boulevard Foster City, CA USA 94404 Dear Mr. Tretton: I am writing regarding a recent data breach of Sony's PlayStation Network service. I am troubled by the failure of Sony to immediately notify affected customers of the breach and to extend adequate financial data security protections. It has been reported that on April 20, 2011, Sony's PlayStation Network suffered an "external intrusion" and was subsequently disabled. News reports estimate that 50 million to 75 million consumers – many of them children – access the PlayStation Network for video and entertainment. I understand that the PlayStation Network allows users to store credit card information online to facilitate the purchasing of content such as games and movies through the PlayStation Network. A breach of such a widely used service immediately raises concerns of data privacy, identity theft, and other misuse of sensitive personal and financial data, such as names, email addresses, and credit and debit card information. When a data breach occurs, it is essential that customers be immediately notified about whether and to what extent their personal and financial information has been compromised. Additionally, PlayStation Network users should be provided with financial data security services, including free access to credit reporting services, for two years, the costs of which should be borne by Sony. Affected individuals should also be provided with sufficient insurance to protect them from the possible financial consequences of identity theft. I am concerned that PlayStation Network users' personal and financial information may have been inappropriately accessed by a third party. Compounding this concern is the troubling lack of notification from Sony about the nature of the data breach. Although the breach occurred nearly a week ago, Sony has not notified customers of the intrusion, or provided information that is vital to allowing individuals to protect themselves from identity theft, such as informing users whether their personal or financial information may have been compromised. Nor has Sony specified how it intends to protect these consumers. PlayStation Network users deserve more complete information on the data breach, as well as the assurance that their personal and financial information will be securely maintained. I appreciate your prompt response on this important issue. Sincerely, /s/ Richard Blumenthal United States Senate" Sony has responded publicly to Playstation users by stating on the Playstation Network Blog: "Thank you for your patience while we work to resolve the current outage of PlayStation Network & Qriocity services. We are currently working to send a similar message to the one below via email to all of our registered account holders regarding a compromise of personal information as a result of an illegal intrusion on our systems. These malicious actions have also had an impact on your ability to enjoy the services provided by PlayStation Network and Qriocity including online gaming and online access to music, movies, sports and TV shows. We have a clear path to have PlayStation Network and Qriocity systems back online, and expect to restore some services within a week." via Joystiq Click here to view the article

South Korea has taken over the parent's job to monitor their children's onling gaming habits and are in the process of voting in a law that is being dubbed, "The Cinderella Law". The new law which was has survived rounds of voting with a unanimous "Yes" decision since last April, gives the country the right to restrict the hours that a child under the age of 15 can play online games. The hours that will be restricted for online gaming only if this law is approved by the country's national assembly will be from midnight to 6 am. According to World in Motion, South Korea ran a test during the original proposal of the "The Cinderella Law" that slowed down the connection speed of some online games when children remained logged in for consecutive hours. South Korea is trying to address the high numbers of gaming addiction related deaths that have happened over the years in their country. via Game Politics Click here to view the article

The always under fire and controversial website, Wikileaks have released documents regarding Al Qaeda's plot to use Sega Cartridges to kill high profile individuals including Bill Clinton and Pope John Paul II. "Detainee discussed remote-controlled firing devices (RCFDS) which were found during raids in Karachi in September 2002. These RCFDS were built inside black Sega videogame cassette cartridges to protect the RCFDS and to make them appear innocuous." - Department of Defense Records Still want to find that Sega Genesis game that you have been searching for to add to your classic collection? via Game Politics Click here to view the article

How about this for adding some zombie loving spice to your DLC ? Activision has announced that George Romero, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Robert Englund, Danny Trejo, and Michael Rooker are all in the "Call of the Dead" Zombies mode map for the latest piece of DLC for Call of Duty Black Ops, Escalation which is due out May 3 on the Xbox 360. All of the celebrities have not only provided their voices, but their characters also look nearly identical to the real life version of themselves. via Joystiq Click here to view the article

Zombie lovers unite. This week's Deal of the Week are items to help wage your war against the zombies in Dead Rising 2. Dead Rising 2: Case Zero - 200 MS Points Dead Rising 2: Case West - 400 MS Points Psycho Skill Pack - 80 MS Points Soldier Skill Pack - 80 MS Points The Deal of the Week ends on May 2. via Major Nelson Click here to view the article

F2P games or Free to Play games have seen much success in the world of PC gaming especially lately with social games such as Mafia Wars and Farmville where you can play the game for free, but in order to enhance your gaming experience you need to purchase special items or upgrades. How would you like F2P games to come to Xbox Live? According to IGN that might be happening very soon. A trusted source close to IGN is claiming that Xbox Live will be adding these style of games soon which will "allow publishers and developers to release games through the service for free where users can then purchase additional content, such as weapons, experience points, in-game currency, and perks.". While this is just a rumor, what do you guys think? Are micro-transaction games the future of video games or just another excuse for developers and publishers to make money on those willing to shell out the extra cash? via IGN Click here to view the article

"We weren’t an independent studio making ‘our’ games anymore – we were making games to fill slots. Although we did all believe in them, they were more the products of committees and analysts. The culture we’d worked on for so long gradually eroded just enough so that it wasn’t ‘ours’ anymore", said the Creative Director with Bizarre Creations Martyn Chudley during an interview with Edge where regrets and the option to buy Bizarre back after Activision closed the 17 year studio in February 2011 were explained. During the interview Chudley details how it was making games for Activision and that they were just "fill slots". "I don’t think the atmosphere differed too much during the years before Activision. We were always proudly independent. However, when Activision took over, we really felt that they would leave our culture alone, and for a while it was fine, but slowly the feeling did start to change....” Gareth Wilson, the former Design Manager chimed in and concluded that it was difficult managing a team without someone feeling left out. "...just the reality of managing so many people. It’s a challenge for any studio these days to make everyone on the team feel like they’re really contributing to a game when there could be well over 100 people on a single game in production.” An interesting tidbit brought up during the interview was made by Chudley who claimed that they had the opportunity to buy the company back. "Without going into details, yes, there was [an opportunity], but I personally thought there was far greater potential for the security and well-being of the company if a third party could come in." Some former staff members of the defunt studio that brought such hits to game shelves such as the Project Gotham Racing series and Geometry Wars announced that they formed a new studio called, "Hogrocket" which will focus on games for the iPhone, iPad, PC, and Mac. via Edge Click here to view the article

Do you love watching the sweaty bare chested men of the UFC duke it out in the Octagon splattering blood across the mat and found yourself wishing that you could do that without having to leave your living room? Thanks to THQ, now you can. THQ announced that they are launching UFC Personal Trainer for the PS3, Wii, and Xbox 360 sometime this June. The mixed martial arts trainer was designed by the National Academy of Sports Medicine and three MMA trainers including Mark DellaGrotte, Greg Jackson and Javier Mendez who throughout their training careers have worked with top UFC fighters gave their input to the excerise based game. According to Lead Designer Troy Sheetz, in UFC Personal Trainer there is a workout routine for everybody regardless of what you want to do. "There are actually a whole lot of different programs in the product. We have 30 and 60-day programs, each with different goals. Whether you want to lose weight, build muscle, or just build endurance, we have a program for you. And when you're going through the programs, you are handed routines each day, and sometimes they are as little as 20 minutes, sometimes they are as much as an hour." THQ's Director of Production, William Schmitt has also said that the game is the real deal as far as getting in shape and losing weight. "It really sank in to me after talking to our developer. We have three testers on site, and after two and a half months of working out, the three testers have lost a combined 100 pounds. It gets you up, it gets you moving, and when you're playing this game, you're going to get 20-minutes to 60-minutes of activity and you're going to sweat it out." UFC Personal Trainer will be Kinect enabled and according to Joystiq will have a full motion body tracker, voice command navigation, and some exclusive elements that you will not find in other versions. via ESPN Click here to view the article

All this week Sega has been teasing about "big news" coming to Sonic the Hedgehog's Facebook page. Fans of Sega's favorite blue chili dog eating hero start tapping your feet, because Sonic is back in a new game coming to the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 later this year. The colorful 3D teaser trailer which you can view checking out Sonic's very own Facebook page, shows Sonic speeding along, leaping from platform to platform only to make one big jump and another blue Sonic appears beside him. Does this mean the new game will be co-op or has Sonic gotten a speedy doppleganger? via Sonic the Hedgehog's Facebook Click here to view the article

Kameo: Elements of Power, a colorful launch title for the Xbox 360 in 2005 almost had a followup with Kameo 2, but Rare cancelled the game in 2009 before it got off the ground. Artwork has surfaced from the planned sequel that shows Kameo would have gotten a more "womanly" appearance had the game had lived to see a release. via Eurogamer Click here to view the article

Gears fans anxiously awaiting for the September 20 release of Gears of War 3 might find the following little nugget of information bitter sweet. Executive producer Rod Fergusson spoke to CVG and said that fans will finally get closure to the Marcus Fenix story, however the universe within Gears will go on. "We're not blowing up the world so Sera and the Gears universe will live on, but for us we didn't want to betray our customers and community by having a cliff-hanger ending where you're like 'argh I just got duped, now I've gotta wait until the next game. We wanted to have closure, we wanted people to have some satisfaction that they were along for this ride and they lived through a story. We're not going to reveal everything because we want some mystique left in our universe, but this is the Marcus Fenix story and people should feel satisfied after playing through that." While Marcus Fenix's fate among with the other COG members remains up in the air, according to VG247 there are rumblings of Gears of War Kinect game in the works. via CVG Click here to view the article

Yesterday a hacker who goes by the name of "Predator" claimed that he hacked into the Xbox Live account of Stephen "Stepto" Toulouse who happens to be the head of the Xbox Live Enforcement Policy Team and said that he only wanted to help Microsoft. Toulouse who spoke to Joystiq regarding the incident is telling a far more disturbing story. "He got an old cell phone [number] of mine, and yeah, he called it occasionally". Toulouse then played it for Joystiq who said that they could not print the expletive and derogatory filled message because it was not suitable. Toulouse later said, "I have a six minute one where he and his friend discuss all the different ways they're gonna have sex with my wife." He also adds that most of the messages he has received are harrassment and that "Predator" is not just trying to "reach out for contact". "I would say 'reaching out for contact' is an extremely generous phrase. Most of the stuff that he leaves on there is flat out harassment. It's not contact. He's not trying to help or do anything. He's mostly just insulting me. And I get that from time to time. It's just the nature of my role. The kids sometimes try to go after me -- it's not that big a deal." Toulouse did mention that his Xbox Live account was not "hacked" as "Predator" claimed and that it was a result of social engineering and that they are investigating the matter, because he believes that what he has been doing is a crime. "What he did, from a lot of people's point of view, I think, is a crime, and we're going to be investigating that." via Joystiq Click here to view the article

Do you like to play open ended sandbox-styled games like [insert any open-ended game here]? According to DICE's Patrick Bach who is serving as the Executive Producer to Battlefield 3, you are in the minority because sandbox games just plain suck. "In some cases they aren’t, but in most cases sandbox games are hardcore, boring, hard to get into and they are not very popular." You hear that kiddos? If you play GTA, Saint's Row, Red Dead Remption, or even Battlefield 2: Bad Company that DICE worked on that is considered "sandboxish" then you are playing a game that is at the bottom of every gaming barrel. via Edge Online Click here to view the article

This Fail of the Day is being brought to you by Konami. Last week, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow DLC Reverie found it's way onto the PSN in North America to the surprise of fans considering that no release date was announced concerning the PS3 version of Reverie. Turns out Konami made an error and the content was never suppose to be released in North America which is why there is now a delay with the European version which should have hit their PSN on March 30. To make matters even more embarrassing, Konami cannot take it down. Producer David Cox stated over Twitter in response to an angry European gamer, "put up there in error and it's too late to take it down. I sympathise it's not the best situation." Cox later said, "....it's a clusterf**k". While it is nice to see a big name in the industry like Konami saying they messed up, it's still embarrassing and full of fail. That is why you Konami, are the Fail of the Day. via Game Informer http://www.joystiq.com/2011/03/31/castlevania-lords-of-shadow-reverie-dlc-released-in-error-o/ Click here to view the article

Fanboys get ready to give your favorite console a hug, because GameStop released their annual report regarding who is coming out on top in console sales in the United States and Europe since December 2010. In the US, Nintendo takes the top two spots with the DS selling 47.3 million and the Wii selling 34.2 million units. The number three spot goes to the Xbox 360 which moved 25.4 million consoles. Rounding out fourth and fifth place is the PSP selling 19 million and the PS3 selling 15.4 million units. On the Europe side of things, Nintendo came out on top again with 46 million DS's and 24.9 million Wii's being sold. PSP takes third place 14.8 million sales, the PS3 sold 14.7 million consoles, and coming in at the fifth spot is the Xbox 360 who sold 13.7 million consoles. Nintendo must be pretty happy today with those reported numbers from the video game retailing giant, GameStop. via Gamasutra Click here to view the article

If you have experienced the underrated and very innovative first person shooter meets portal and gravity manipulator then you know that the gameplay from Prey rests heavily on making portals to transport the main character Tommy to and from areas in the game. Human Head Studios has announced that the portals and gravity manipulation will not be making their return in Prey 2. The announcement came from lead designer Chris Reinhart as he spoke to PSM3. "We explored a lot of the ways you could use portals and gravity in combat, and I really wanted to shift away from making it too much of a puzzle game. Portals and gravity were the functions of The Sphere [the mothership in the original game]. And The Sphere’s gone.” Unfortunately for Human Head Studios their decision to remove a core part of the Prey series might not sit so well with fans of the series who are waiting to get their hands on Prey 2 next year and have praised Human Head Studios for taking a step out of the norm. via Beef Jack Click here to view the article

Slant Six, the developer behind SOCOM: Confrontation is working on a new game in the survival horror series Resident Evil that is being titled Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City for the 360, PS3, and PC. While no date has been set other than Winter 2011, Slant Six has released a teaser trailer that showcases actual zombies like in early Resident Evil titles and what appears to be the return of a fan favorite. via Playstation Lifestyle Click here to view the article